The Lost Village Review

Buckle yourselves in, the smurfs are back with their new movie Smurfs – The Lost Village. It has been four years since the last smurf film and this time it was going to include no human characters – hooray! So other than watching an odd preview here there I really had no expectations with this film, which was probably a good thing.

This fully animated story is mainly focused around Smurfette and her quest to know who she is. We are gently reminded that the all the other smurfs are given their name by their personal trait. We are also reminded that Smurfette was made by evil wizard Gargamel until Papa Smurf saved the day.

The real adventure begins upon the discovering of a mysterious map that sets Smurfette, Brainy, Hefty and Clumsy on a journey through the Forbidden Forest to the find the Lost Village, with Gargamel close behind. Like all good baddies Gargamel is the one that keeps the movie rolling with his silly antics.

Then within the Forbidden Forest, Smurfette and her three friends come across the Lost Village, that contain only female smurf like creatures. But danger is never far behind…….

It is fair to say that the film is aimed for people who are ‘more than three apples tall’ (as tall as a smurf) and adore pop sings with all the right moves and bright animated colours. The film is also aimed for people who are happy to go with the flow of the movie and not worry about the predictable storyline.

Without the juggernaut of merchandise that comes with these kind of movies, it is fair to say that these films would never be made in the first place. Perhaps to a small degree we should be happy for this as it gives us new smurf things to collect or for some to rediscover the smurfs from their childhood.

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

Small Smurfs Big Goals Stamps

On 18th March 2017, United Nations, UNICEF and the cast from the “Smurfs: The Lost Village” teamed up to celebrate International Day of Happiness and also promote a new program “Small Smurfs Big Goals” campaign. Along with the event at the United Nations, other celebrations took place in 18 countries around the world including Australia, Belgium, Russia, Argentina and the UK, to name a few, to help raise awareness for the “Small Smurfs Big Goals” campaign and the Goals.

Part of the campaign also included the launch by the United Nations Postal Administration of a special edition of stamps featuring the Small Smurfs Big Goals campaign.

This is not the first time the Smurfs have appeared on postage stamps. In 1996 France released their Smurf Message Stamps with each stamp displaying a message and a Smurf.

In 2008 Belgium as part The Smurfs 50th Anniversary released 10 different postage stamps. Each stamp included a picture of a well known smurf and on one of the stamps it also included Gargamel.

So imagine my surprise this morning when I found out that Australia Post had produced a Smurfs stamp pack consisting of 10 postage stamps to coincide with the release of the Smurfs: Lost Village.

All of a sudden I had a brainwave, instead of buying family and friends Easter eggs this year I could send them a card instead telling them about the “Small Smurfs Big Goals” initiative. It’s a win, win for everyone and of course The Smurfs.

But then what happened about the idea of giving them Kinder Surprise Smurf Easter Eggs……….

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

Bunny Smurfs

I have been inspired this week to get to know a little bit more about the Easter smurfs that have been produced over the years. I felt a little ashamed of myself that I knew so little about them and with Easter only a few weeks ago I thought what better time to explore.

The first Easter smurf I collected was Smurf in Bunny Suit. This Smurf is dressed up in a white bunny outfit and presents you with a big green egg wrapped with a yellow ribbon.

Smurf in Bunny Suit was made in three different countries, Hong Kong, Portugal and lastly China. It appears that the same mould may have been used and the only difference is with the paint colours. When you get the chance have a look at the pink paint used on the inside of bunny ears.

It was some time after this I was able to find Smurfette in Bunny Suit. The Easter Bunny Smurfette wears a pink bunny suit and carries a basket of eggs.

Like Smurf in Bunny Suit, Smurfette in Bunny Suit was made in Hong Kong, Portugal and China. The major difference is the pink pvc used, from pale pink to a lighter pink.

Smurf in Bunny Suit and Smurfette in Bunny Suit were first sold as Seasonal pair by Wallace Berrie with the article number 6520. These were both made in Hong Kong.

First sold as Seasonal pair, Smurf in Bunny Suit and Smurfette in Bunny Suit in 1983 by Schleich with article number 20832. These were both made in Portugal.

Schleich produced both bunnies from 1983 to 1986 and then again from 1989 to 1995. In 1996 Schleich made new Easter smurfs with new article numbers. Sadly the two Easter bunnies were not part of the new Easter themed smurfs. It is unclear why this was.

So if you know someone who adores their smurfs instead of buying them chocolate easter eggs this year how about getting them an Smurf bunny.

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

1997 Smurfs

Many factors determine the value of a smurf, so when one looks back twenty years ago to have a look at the smurfs that were produced in 1997 I found I was in for unexpected surprise.

In 1997 Schleich released seven new smurfs and two new Easter themed smurfs. The first surprise I encountered was that back in 1997 Schleich did not have a theme for a year release like they do now. Upon looking into this it appears that the Marching Band Smurfs released back in 2002 were the first ones produced with a theme. Back in 1997 it was more like they had themed pairs.

Inline Skater Smurf and Inline Skater Smurfette
Disco Smurf and Disco Smurfette
Smurf Child with Doll and Smurf Child on Toy Truck

The last one released for 1997 was Smurf Bathing which was first produced in 1996 for the Quick Fast Food promotion. As part of the promotion Smurf Bathing was included with a bath tub.

As for the two Easter themed smurfs these included
Smurf with Easter egg on back and Smurf eating chocolate Easter egg.

When the Decade Display Box Sets were released in 2011, it is surprising that none of the smurfs from 1997 were used for the 1990 to 1999 decade box. Again I wonder if this had something to do with the smurfs being produced as a themed pair.

Like a lot of smurfs produced in the late 1990’s these can still be easily found in really good condition and at a reasonable price. Generally speaking it is easier to find these smurfs compared to the ones sold in 1996.

For those of you who like to collect smurfs with different colour variations, Disco Smurfette is the one to look out for. In 2010 The Smurfs – Just Smurfy 3 (DVD box set) was sold with a bonus figurine in Australia. The bonus figurine was Disco Smurfette this time instead of white underwear as originally released she was wearing lime green underwear. This version is now highly sought after by most collectors.

Looking back at past years and what smurfs were sold, it is always a nice way to appreciate ones own collection. It also helps you understand what determines the value of particular smurfs. Whether that value be a nostalgic one or one driven more be price.

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B

Seeking Smurf Cottage

Some may say I continue to be a silly woman for breaking a collector’s principle this week, for not buying a Smurf’s Cottage in its original box. Over my time collecting smurfs, I have acquired six cottages but none in their original boxes. Don’t get me wrong I like the look of the cottages especially displayed in different parts of the house but if there was a choice between smurfs and a cottage I would most likely go for the smurfs!

To be honest the box had seen better days, as you could see where someone had ripped off the original price sticker on it. The pop up card that would have been used to hang up the item on display was now looking rather poorly as it flopped across the top of the box. Once again I probably did a big no-no by opening up the box to inspect the condition of the green roofed cottage and also to ensure it included its butterfly.

With the Green Cottage that I was considering, this had a light brown door with an oval shaped window with curtains covering the sides of the oval surrounded by a light grey door frame. The window frames were also painted light brown. The Cottage also included it’s yellow butterfly with painted blue wings.

The Cottages were first made by Schleich in 1978 in three different colours, red, green and blue. The green roofed cottage was given article number 4.0012. It appears that they used the same box for all three cottages and would just place a tick in a tick-box to indicate which coloured roof belonged in the box. Back in 1981 Bp Australia was selling the cottages for just $3.99.

The whole ‘mint condition in box’ thing just doesn’t matter to me. It is true that I like to keep the Super Smurfs and Playsets boxes as I find them fascinating to read. But in the end I also feel a cottage looks better out of its box.

Keep on Smurfin

Kath B